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^There was a certain character logic to it, though. He'd grown up in a prison that tortured its prisoners with the illusion of hope (a clear path to escape if only they could make the climb/leap) in order to intensify their despair. And like most victims of abuse who become abusers, he imitated his abusers' patterns, playing the same kind of mind games -- giving both Bruce and Gotham a sliver of hope before destroying them both. True, if you think about it, it does fall afoul of the standard "Why don't you just shoot him?" problem, but at least there was a character-based reason for his folly, and that makes it somewhat more acceptable.

A forced character based reason.
Am I the only one who laughed his ass so hard when a deserted prison in the middle nowhere actaullly had better quality TV with clear imaging than I do. Seriously what was with that? It was so dumb, now I know these films aren't gritty and realistic--The Wire is for that. But I think they kinda dropped the ball on the whole" illusionary realism." The Pit was a dumb idea( I don't care about all the symbolic, or metaphoric reasons for it).

And like most victims of abuse who become abusers, he imitated his abusers' patterns, playing the same kind of mind games -- giving both Bruce and Gotham a sliver of hope before destroying them both. True, if you think about it, it does fall afoul of the standard "Why don't you just shoot him?" problem, but at least there was a character-based reason for his folly, and that makes it somewhat more acceptable.

Torture makes more sense than just shooting your enemy. If you're suffering, you want to prolong their suffering and you can't do that if you just snuff them out.

^There was a certain character logic to it, though. He'd grown up in a prison that tortured its prisoners with the illusion of hope (a clear path to escape if only they could make the climb/leap) in order to intensify their despair. And like most victims of abuse who become abusers, he imitated his abusers' patterns, playing the same kind of mind games -- giving both Bruce and Gotham a sliver of hope before destroying them both. True, if you think about it, it does fall afoul of the standard "Why don't you just shoot him?" problem, but at least there was a character-based reason for his folly, and that makes it somewhat more acceptable.

Given his resources, choosing to dress up in a funny rubber suit and dart off into the night to fight a one man war on crime is suspect, to say the least.

As I already said, that would be true in our world, and maybe in the movie universes where he's one of a kind, but it makes no sense as an argument applied to the universe he occupies in comics and animation, where costumed crimefighting is a commonplace occupation.

Then again, every occupation has to start somewhere. Lots of innovators and pioneers have been considered deranged by their less imaginative peers.

Batman is wholesomely unrealistic character that would no make no impact in a real life urban city. Though I wonder what would happen if a person who had comic book Batman abilities were to exist in the real world(our world) and fight crime in a city like say Detroit, or New Orleans. Would he be successful?

Given his resources, choosing to dress up in a funny rubber suit and dart off into the night to fight a one man war on crime is suspect, to say the least.

As I already said, that would be true in our world, and maybe in the movie universes where he's one of a kind, but it makes no sense as an argument applied to the universe he occupies in comics and animation, where costumed crimefighting is a commonplace occupation.

Then again, every occupation has to start somewhere. Lots of innovators and pioneers have been considered deranged by their less imaginative peers.

Batman is wholesomely unrealistic character that would no make no impact in a real life urban city. Though I wonder what would happen if a person who had comic book Batman abilities were to exist in the real world(our world) and fight crime in a city like say Detroit, or New Orleans. Would he be successful?

Though I wonder what would happen if a person who had comic book Batman abilities were to exist in the real world(our world) and fight crime in a city like say Detroit, or New Orleans. Would he be successful?

No.

Real-life bad guys would shoot him in the face instead of forgetting that they're holding firearms and trying to use them as bludgeons.

Dr.H wrote:

Am I the only one who laughed his ass so hard when a deserted prison in the middle nowhere actaullly had better quality TV with clear imaging than I do.

Yes. No one else knows the condition of your TV, therefore there was nothing to laugh at.

__________________
Just walk away, and there will be an end to the horror.

Though I wonder what would happen if a person who had comic book Batman abilities were to exist in the real world(our world) and fight crime in a city like say Detroit, or New Orleans. Would he be successful?

No.

Real-life bad guys would shoot him in the face instead of forgetting that they're holding firearms and trying to use them as bludgeons.

Doesn't he only come out at night wearing dark clothes and stays in the shadows sneaking up on people?

Funny enough, a real world Batman would kill people just by knocking them down. Since knocking people unconscious will more than likely kill a person or severely damage them . In keeping with the topic, yes Batman is insane, but insane in the sense of being severely mentally deranged. No matter what, even in a universe as fantastical as the one Bruce Wayne occupies it certainly is a crazy idea. Batman is also crazy in the sense he endangers little kids by having them assist in his crime fighting, wearing their underwear in public with a domino mask. Even after the murder of the second kid sidekick, he still willingly allows kids to assist him.

Doesn't he only come out at night wearing dark clothes and stays in the shadows sneaking up on people?

Also it's not as easy to shoot someone as you may think, particularly if they're moving quickly. The '66 TV Batman and Robin may have liked to pose and declaim before attacking their enemies, but their enemies usually didn't have guns. A more modern Batman wouldn't stand still to give them a clear target.

I'm remembering how the Mythbusters tested the saying "Don't bring a knife to a gunfight." They found that it actually is surprisingly feasible to battle a gunman with only a knife. It's possible to throw a knife (or batarang) and hit an opponent before they can draw, aim, and fire, and at close quarters (within 16 ft) it's possible to close to knifing (or in Batman's case, punching) range before the opponent can bring the gun to bear and fire.

And of course there's the added element of fear that Batman embraces. It's harder for someone to draw, aim, and fire a gun if they're scared out of their wits by this big bat creature swooping down on them. If they do fire, their aim is likely to be off, and not only due to fear and haste; part of the reason Batman wears a cape is to obscure his profile so people don't know where they're shooting. Plus he has body armor. His exposed chin is going to be a very difficult target to hit under those circumstances.

Doesn't he only come out at night wearing dark clothes and stays in the shadows sneaking up on people?

Also it's not as easy to shoot someone as you may think, particularly if they're moving quickly. The '66 TV Batman and Robin may have liked to pose and declaim before attacking their enemies, but their enemies usually didn't have guns. A more modern Batman wouldn't stand still to give them a clear target.

I'm remembering how the Mythbusters tested the saying "Don't bring a knife to a gunfight." They found that it actually is surprisingly feasible to battle a gunman with only a knife. It's possible to throw a knife (or batarang) and hit an opponent before they can draw, aim, and fire, and at close quarters (within 16 ft) it's possible to close to knifing (or in Batman's case, punching) range before the opponent can bring the gun to bear and fire.

And of course there's the added element of fear that Batman embraces. It's harder for someone to draw, aim, and fire a gun if they're scared out of their wits by this big bat creature swooping down on them. If they do fire, their aim is likely to be off, and not only due to fear and haste; part of the reason Batman wears a cape is to obscure his profile so people don't know where they're shooting. Plus he has body armor. His exposed chin is going to be a very difficult target to hit under those circumstances.

Who's going to be afraid of a guy dressed in a bat suit? Hell, what would happen if he did at Halloween. I mean in general the guy will look goofy and silly no matter what you do.

Who's going to be afraid of a guy dressed in a bat suit? Hell, what would happen if he did at Halloween. I mean in general the guy will look goofy and silly no matter what you do.

This is why he should be naked... yeah you heard me right - naked except for the boots, glooves, belt, mask and cape.

Think about it - you are mugging some old lady in an alleyway when suddenly a guy in a gimp mask with a hard-on comes run at you - by the time you've made sense of what you have seen, he's knocked you out.

Who's going to be afraid of a guy dressed in a bat suit? Hell, what would happen if he did at Halloween. I mean in general the guy will look goofy and silly no matter what you do.

This is why he should be naked... yeah you heard me right - naked except for the boots, glooves, belt, mask and cape.

Think about it - you are mugging some old lady in an alleyway when suddenly a guy in a gimp mask with a hard-on comes run at you - by the time you've made sense of what you have seen, he's knocked you out.

Again: Night. Dark. Shadows. Hard to identify the big dark thing coming at you very fast out of the corner of your eye. Maybe all you see is something that looks like it has wings and devil horns. See Batman: Year One, the police briefing about the eyewitness reports from Batman's victims, including Detective Flass. Many of them insist they were attacked by a monster rather than a man. Or look at the B:TAS episode "P.O.V.," where things happen so fast that the rookie cop thinks Batman has superpowers when he's just using his gadgets. Human perceptions are very fallible, especially when dealing with the unusual. We often don't see things for what they actually are.